Elie’s Team Won!

Elie told me about his few hours on the field, much of it with laughter and smiles. He shot one of his officers – right between the eyes (which luckily for all was covered with a safety helmet and visor). That was considered a “kill” and so the officer had to leave the playing field for the duration of that segment. Elie was “hit” one time in the vest, not considered a kill.

“I got others too,” Elie explained.

But the funniest explanation came about when he explained that one segment involved each side having a captain. The goal was to “kill” the other team’s captain and, if neither side succeeded, the winner would be the team whose captain advanced the farthest on the playing field. The idea was that the team had to protect its captain at all cost.

“Who was your captain?” I asked Elie.

“K., of course,” Elie explained. K. is the head of Elie’s solela (battery) and the one who organized the day. The problem was, K. wasn’t one to be protected. He ran into the battle shooting and taking part while Elie and the others kept trying to make him take cover. Luckily, K. wasn’t hit and so Elie’s team was victorious.

Another segment involved the two teams moving through territory trying to capture cannons on the field. This was a bit much for me to imagine – a group of artillery soldiers on a “battlefield” with paint guns, trying to vie for cannons.

“Did they know you were artillery soldiers?” I asked.

“Yes,” Elie said with a smile. “They figured it out.”

Elie told me about how the guns shoot, “they aren’t like real guns,” he explained. “You don’t hold them like a real gun. You just shoot and see how the ‘bullets’ go and then you change your aim.”

01.28.09, 21:47 A Color Red alert sounded in Eshkol Regional Council. No rocket landing sites have been detected at this time.

“Did they give you a chance to practice before you started the games?” I asked. Silly me, asking such a question.

With the arrogance that only youth can have and a wicked grin on his face, Elie answered, “we didn’t need it.”

God, I love that boy. He had a great day. I’m so so glad he had this day.

01.28.09, 22:02 A rocket fired from northern Gaza landed in Eshkol Regional Council limits. No injuries or damage were reported.

We are a democratic country; so much so, we allow our enemies into our government and from the podium of our parliament, they have the freedom to call for policies that would destroy us.
Our current enemies, those who pose the most immediate threat lie to our north. This is Hizbollah land, where according to their leader Hassan Nasrallah, “We have discovered how to hit the Jews where they are the most vulnerable. The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win, because they love life and we love death.”
Our enemies lie to the northeast. This is Syria. My sons have spent many months on the Golan Heights, including some tense days waiting to see how the Syrians would react after Israel sent planes to destroy a building widely believed to be the beginnings of a nuclear reactor. My oldest son fought near Gaza to help stop the rockets from being fired against Israel.
Our enemies lie further to the east. This is Iran, led by fanatics who promise that they will do all they can to accomplish in a few minutes more than what Adolf Hitler accomplished in six years of war. The Iranian leadership has made it clear in words and actions that they are after a nuclear bomb and that their goal is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Believe them.